Ashida, Yoshimoto among court hopefuls

Published March 23, 2014 - 1:00am

By ERIN MILLERStephens Media Hawaii

Two Hawaii County officials are among six finalists to fill a vacancy in the District Court in Hilo.

Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida and County Council Chairman J Yoshimoto both made the short list. Both said they were honored to be nominated, and praised the field of candidates from which Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Mark Recktenwald will ultimately select a new judge. The state Senate will then need to confirm his selection.

“All five (of the other nominees) are of good character and good legal ability,” Ashida said.

Yoshimoto said he applied for the upcoming judge vacancy because he saw it as another opportunity to serve the public. He is completing his fourth term on the County Council this year.

Hamano, a Hilo attorney, said he was “privileged” to be on the short list.

Family Court Judge Anthony K. Bartholomew’s term in the position ends June 5. The state Judiciary released the list of nominees Friday. Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald is seeking community feedback on the nominees through April 4.

Attempts to reach the other three nominees were not successful Friday.

Comments about the qualifications and character of any of the nominees with regard to either calendar assignment may be sent, in writing, to Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald, Supreme Court of Hawaii, 417 South King Street, Honolulu, HI 96813, by fax to 808-539-4703 or by email to chiefjustice@courts.hawaii.gov.

Rules for posting comments

Comments posted below are from readers. In no way do they represent the view of Oahu Publishing Inc. or this newspaper. This is a public forum.

Comments may be monitored for inappropriate content but the newspaper is under no obligation to do so. Comment posters are solely responsible under the Communications Decency Act for comments posted on this Web site. Oahu Publishing Inc. is not liable for messages from third parties.

IP and email addresses of persons who post are not treated as confidential records and will be disclosed in response to valid legal process.

Do not post:

Potentially libelous statements or damaging innuendo.

Obscene, explicit, or racist language.

Copyrighted materials of any sort without the express permission of the copyright holder.

Personal attacks, insults or threats.

The use of another person's real name to disguise your identity.

Comments unrelated to the story.

If you believe that a commenter has not followed these guidelines, please click the FLAG icon below the comment.